I find it weird how we have three Disney shows that involve characters doing the waggle dance via song. The Phineas And Ferb episode "Bee Story" has the Fireside Girls do this with the song "Shake It". Fancy Nancy does this with the song "Buzz Buzz Buzz" from "The Buzz On Oak Street", which is done by Nancy, Bree, and Jojo. Kindergarten The Musical does this with "The Waggle Dance" from "Bye Bye Albie" with Berti.
With Sofia The First: Royal Magic being primarily made for today's preschool kids (but still with elements for long time fans), many episode concepts from both the original series and other preschool shows are unsurprisingly being reused. "Kidding Around" is no exception. The general plot of a princess's parent turning into a child was done with the episode "Kid Triton" from the Disney Junior Ariel series. From the original series, this episode is similar to "Two Princesses And A Baby" (someone becoming younger) and "When You Wish Upon A Well" (a wish gone wrong). However, it's also similar to "Mom's The Word", which also looks into Sofia's relationship with Miranda. What I want to know is, between "Mom's The Word" and "Kidding Around", which one do you see as better? Let's go over them.
"Mom's The Word" focuses on Sofia feeling jealous about how she and Miranda have to spend Mother's Day with Amber and James since she's used to having her all to herself. With help from Lucinda (who still wants to be good) and her mother Marla, she uses witch magic to separate them from her siblings so that they could spend alone time together. "Kidding Around" focuses on Sofia wanting to spend time with Miranda, but she's too busy preparing for a kings and queens meeting. Thanks to a magic hairbrush Clover found, she decides to use it to spend more time with Miranda, but accidentally turns her into a kid.
Probably a big deciding factor for whether you like "Mom's The Word" comes down to Sofia's behavior. This episode leans into her jealousy much more than "Four's A Crowd", which was just 4 episodes prior. She tries to purposefully drive a wedge between her mother and her siblings so that they can spend alone time together. There's an argument to be made that you do find her sympathetic since it's not easy for kids to adjust to something this big. We see this particularly with the "Me And My Mom" song. Plus, at least she didn't have Lucinda do anything too heinous. On the other hand, you have people thinking she went too far in her actions with how she seems very petty in keeping her to herself. I mean, she feels threatened by Amber and James' more extravagant gift rather than liking that at least they made her happy.
"Kidding Around" goes for something a bit different, mainly showing a Sofia who's a bit selfish, but still more obviously likable. While her using the magic hairbrush to make Miranda spend time with her despite the dinner is a bit selfish, the episode shows her immediately trying to get Miranda to go back to preparing the dinner when seeing how kid Miranda just wants to play all day. Sofia's portrayal is someone who knows about the responsibilities, but is tempted by her own vices to do what she wants. You see this in the "Play All Day" song, where she does at least try to get Miranda under control, but then decides that it can wait since they both can have fun.
Probably another major change in how the episodes are written comes down to Miranda's role. In "Mom's The Word", she is active in trying to get the family back together, but is more reactive when it comes to the personal conflict since she's mainly about giving good advice to Sofia. "Kidding Around" makes her more proactive in her choices with how she actively chooses to shirk her responsibilities since this is too much fun. In a way, she gets the episodes secondary character arc, much like Lucinda in the original episode.
One final difference comes down to the writers. "Mom's The Word" is written by Michael G. Stern, who recently joined the show. He did write "The Enchanted Feast" with Craig Gerber, but thus is his first solo episode, and thus he probably didn't have the best grasp on the characters. "Kidding Around" is written by Isabel Galupo, who didn't write on the original series, but she is experienced with the new show since she already wrote four other episodes prior to this (Give It A Twirl, Royal Family Picnic, Zane The Hero, Crown Chaos).
And that's all I have. What do you think?
There's an interesting background detail I just noticed with Zaria that's actually funny. During the scene where Delwyn Dashing brings the decorations to life and chases the kids, she's actually excited for this. I mean, she's the only one with a smile on her face when the decorations chase them. Plus, when riding the giant spider, she actually looks thrilled. It's a subtle moment, but it's so funny.
The PBS Kids show Rosie's Rules turns 4 years old. The theme song is awesome
After the Sofia The First: Royal Magic episode "The Enchanted Lake/Tricky Trixie" makes its TV debut on November 6, the next episode is the 24 minute episode "Holiday At Charmswell". I'm wondering if it'll be like a mix of how "Holiday In Enchancia" was released combined with moving the story arc forward like the Elena Of Avalor episode "Snow Place Like Home"? "Holiday At Charmswell" will premiere on the Disney Junior channel on November 26 at 6:30 PM before premiering on the Disney Junior block on Disney Channel on November 30 at 9:30 AM. It's similar to "Holiday In Enchancia" since it premiered on December 1, 2013 at 6:30 PM before premiering on the Disney Junior block on December 6 at 9:30 AM. When Craig Gerber was interviewed about the new series with Animation World Network, he mentioned an upcoming holiday episode where snow covers Charmswell, much like "Snow Place Like Home". The latter episode gave some insight into Esteban's character and was the debut of Ash Delgado, albeit only in a cameo. Given how this new special is 24 minutes, and "Crown Chaos", which introduces the new villain Zandrya, is only 11 minutes, I assume bigger things will happen in this special.
The Cable TV Forums revealed that the next episode after "The Enchanted Lake/Tricky Trixie", which makes its TV debut on November 6, is a half hour holiday episode called "Holiday At Charmswell". It comes out November 26 on the Disney Junior channel and November 30 on the Disney Junior block.
Today is the 5 year anniversary of The Ghost And Molly McGee, one of Disney's shortest yet also well liked shows. What do you love about it?
Here are 2 crossover shorts between Sesame Street and The Cat In The Hat.
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/minions-and-monsters-peacock-streaming-date-1236839575/
Minions And Monsters hits Peacock on October 28.
Today marks the 24th birthday of Jenna Ortega, the voice of Isabel. What are your favorite episodes and moments with her?
So when it comes to Sofia The First, it seems like the show wants to present it where Sofia is right and Amber is wrong when it comes to moral choices. Now, I can see the logic here given how Sofia is a kindhearted girl, and thus it's important for her to win out in the end since it emphasizes a good message. However, by making it so that, more often than not, it's Sofia being right and Amber being the one to learn from her, it makes it seem like Amber needs Sofia to learn but Sofia doesn't need Amber to learn. I think it's shown in how "Four's A Crowd" is the only real time when Amber is in the right over Sofia given how jealous the latter was of her hanging with Ruby and Jade. Of course, people don't really think about this given how Ruby and Jade are polarizing characters. I'd say a character who's similar to Amber, but is allowed to both learn and teach others is Yuna from the Nickelodeon mini series Middle School Moguls. She's similar to Amber in how she's privileged and spoiled, but genuinely looks out for others. What makes her different is how she can both learn and help others learn. The second episode has her learn a lesson, but the first and third episode show her pushing Val and Winnie in these respective episodes to push their ideas by using tough love to motivate them. This sense of equalness is often missing in Sofia and Amber's dynamic.
The best way to describe the change in writing style from Sofia The First to Sofia The First Royal Magic would be with how Sesame Street has kept changing in order to keep the preschool target audience at the forefront. Ever since Barney The Dinosaur came onto the scene in the early 1990s, Sesame Street has kept changing in order to stay relevant in the preschool market. The many changes made over the years involve the inclusion of the Around The Corner area, the switch to half hour episodes, more educational shorts and crossover shorts with preschool franchises, and more clearly pronounced diversity with human like Muppets from different cultures like Tamir and Ji Young. Sofia The First changing is not a surprise. You have things like the switch to 11 minute episodes, more clearly pronounced morals, more emphasis on diversity given how she regularly hangs out with Layla and Camila, healthier relationships with non royal characters (Ruby and Jade have only positive interactions with Layla and Camila, unlike the more hostile dynamics they have with Hildegard and Amber early on), and a more easily understood story arc.
I'd pick either Kim Possible, Jake Long, or Molly McGee. You get the action heroes or plucky girls to interact with Lunella and help her out. All the characters I mentioned are from shows Steve Loter worked on.
Mebh And The Wolf Pups is a preschool show that serves as a prequel to Wolfwalkers. The movie was pretty good, and the show sounds cute.
It seems like Disney has a bit of identity crisis when it comes to how they market Elena Of Avalor. For as much they market Elena as Disney's first Latina princess, and really push her, they don't really give her what everyone thinks she deserves, a theatrical movie. It's mainly because of her origins as a Disney Junior show (as evidenced by the "Disney Junior Educational Resource Group" credit in the end credits), and the company isn't confident in giving Disney Junior shows any movies. I mean, her origin story is a Sofia The First special, and that show wasn't put on Disney Plus until October 2022.
This waa definitely unexpected, but it should be interesting.
Kelsey Wooley did some fan art where she drew the main quartet along with Zaria and Devin in fun 80s designs. These actually look really cool.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DdIhe57FPIj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
As Craig Gerber said on blue sky, the series is not doing Royal Magic and Mystic Isles stuff, at least right away, because of executives wanting the show to appeal to new kids who didn't see the original series. If these ideas were brought back into Royal Magic, how would you integrate it? I have just one rule. You have to include Sofia's friends to some extent.
Because of how much the show has fleshed out them, it would be a disservice to not include them on at least one adventure. A lot of the ideas I heard that involve bringing these ideas back into the franchise never include them, as if to imply Sofia is better off solely doing big adventures without them. She can have some solo adventures with these ideas again, but it shouldn't solely be her responsibility. Plus, the kids are audience surrogates for today's preschoolers, with Sofia being an audience surrogate for ideas and concepts introduced in this show while Layla, Camila, and Zane are audience surrogates for original series ideas, places, and characters that are reintroduced. Just look at "Crown Chaos", "A Wander-ful Day", and "The Enchanted Lake". As for the ideas I would use, well buckle up.
If the show is going to reintroduce these concepts, having Sofia's friends involved makes sense. They can take in the wonder and awe of what she's gone through just like today's kids. As for the story, I'd think a 24 minute episode called "Return To The Library" would be a good idea. You'd have Sofia getting a call to help someone in Mezzouk, and she has Layla, Camila, and Zane help her out. Given how the Secret Library and Mystic Isles involved checking out other places, this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce their kingdoms, and show what they look like, impressing both old audiences and new audiences. I think giving Layla a bigger role here would work given how she has 2 notable magical items, her bracelet that makes butterfly wings and her magic notebook. She's also the first of Sofia's friends to have a focus episode when the trio visits her in her castle. Plus, now that eveyrone knows about her magic powers, she doesn't have to hide anything. She can just go on these magical adventures with her friends and family. What do you think?
When it comes to the Netflix Barbie shows, Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures is the only one that's genuinely good. At least it cares about well written characters and is committed to good messages. The humor is an acquired taste, but at least there's thought put into it. Barbie It Takes Two makes the characters into complete jokes that it's hard to take its overarching story seriously. The lack of character development doesn't help. Barbie: A Touch Of Magic has some Dreamhouse Adventures alumni working on it, and even brings back the Barbie magic and fantasy that the previous 2 shows didn't have. However, Malibu and Brooklyn have zero character development since the new characters Rocki and Leo steal the spotlight from them. Barbie Mysteries: The Great Horse Chase (with season 2 being retitled to Beach Detectives) takes all the flaws of the previous shows, and amplifies them. I know about the show's production issues (showrunner Seth Kearsley nearly dying during production, and the show being heavily rewritten when he came back), but even still, the writing is weak. Like, you have villains voiced by Will Friedle and Jennifer Hale who get the power to brainwash people, but it gets nothing but an apathetic reaction from me.
It's interesting how the original Sofia The First series finale, "Forever Royal", came out the same day that James' third voice actor, Nicolas Cantu, turned 15. Now he's 23. Happy birthday.